The Load Letter

A 41,000-pound glycerin shipment vanished in Illinois after thieves spoofed shipment paperwork so convincingly even the driver never knew he was part of the theft, and it's a wake-up call on verifying delivery details independent of EDI. Also in today's briefing: FreightWaves and Ryder's October State of the Industry report shows dry van capacity loosening while flatbed stays tight, oil volatility near seven months into the Iran conflict is pushing diesel to $6.53 and demanding proactive fuel surcharge talks, Canada fast-tracks a West Coast pipeline worth watching for future flatbed demand, Savannah's port expansion opens a two-year window for drayage relationships, and Walmart's $300 million Ohio fulfillment center signals a big-and-bulky flatbed opportunity. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Crude oil is climbing on the Iran conflict, but the diesel surcharge benchmark just fell after three weeks of gains, and brokers need to know which number actually belongs in rate conversations. Also in today's briefing: dry van tightening under a flat rate while flatbed softens on stacked-up Midwest farm equipment, a $635K cargo theft bust that's a wake-up call on carrier vetting, Echo Global Logistics consolidating LTL and cold chain services to lock down accounts, new California cold storage regulations set to raise reefer costs, and a $500M Ross Stores DC that's a two-year business development lead for West Coast brokers. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

A new U.S. ban on roughly a billion dollars of Canadian imports is stranding cross-border capacity at Detroit-Windsor, Port Huron, and Buffalo, and brokers who offer displaced carriers a domestic reload can lock in rate and loyalty fast. Also on deck: dry van tightens under falling tonnage while flatbed softens on farm equipment overstock, new California cold storage laws that will push up reefer rates, a possible port surge if China-linked vessel fees snap back, Kodiak's driverless trucks running Dallas-Houston without a safety observer, and a Daimler-EPA fight over NOx penalties that could trigger another pre-buy cycle. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Nussbaum and Roehl each raised driver pay for the second time this year, and that bidding war for seats is your forward cost curve showing up early. We also cover Ryder's warning that small brokerages face real liability exposure after Montgomery, Yakima apples topping fourteen thousand a load into the East, Kansas carriers taking lawsuit abuse to Washington, the US-China truce extension through January 10th, Kodiak's autonomous produce runs between Fresno and LA, and a lighter Fontaine flatbed that changes your payload math. The thread: capacity is getting more expensive and more selective, so reprice early and document your vetting. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

The Cass shipment index turned positive this week, statistically ending the longest freight recession on record, but dry van spot is still sliding at $2.17 linehaul, and that gap is where your margin lives until contract pricing resets. We break down why tightening capacity and the Lujan case against FMCSA could swing your cost to cover either direction, plus six straight down days in Brent crude pointing to October fuel surcharge relief. Also covered: the Fed's surprise 25-point hike and what softening housing means for flatbed mix, Suez test routings and worsening schedule reliability hitting East Coast drayage, Wegmans insourcing $110 million of grocery distribution, and a 2,500-unit Tesla Semi order. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Cass shipment volumes finally turned positive, officially ending the longest freight recession on record, but dry van spot slipped another penny and a half the same week diesel hit $6.29 a gallon on an 8% global supply drop. We break down why volume recovers before pricing does, why quick pay is now a capacity strategy instead of a margin line, and where flatbed freight is moving as industrial construction costs climb. Also covered: the STB letting the UP, Norfolk Southern merger case proceed and what rail service risk opens up in chemical and ag lanes, FedEx's 5.9% 2027 rate increase, what shoppers actually want instead of speed, Volvo and Kodiak pulling drivers out of the cab, and why tariff refund cash won't fuel a Q4 restock. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Diesel hitting $5.97 a gallon is hammering carriers unevenly, and the ones underwater on your lanes won't tell you until they're already gone, audit your fuel surcharge tables this week. We also cover why the M&A crowd thinks human brokers are getting more valuable as automation eats the easy freight, PrePass and Kodiak giving autonomous trucks bypass authority at roadside inspection sites, and Tesla's Austin distribution center reshaping Central Texas capacity. Plus flexible warehouse networks driving more mini-bids and short-notice repositioning, and why you should ask carriers about their weather alerting tools before winter. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Private fleets are expanding deliberately, pulling the high-value, service-sensitive lanes off the spot market, the exact accounts brokers built their margins on. This briefing also covers the reefer handoff from California to South Texas, Estes dropping $56 million on cross-border and offshore capacity, the tariff freeze ahead of the Xi-Trump summit, new Charleston-to-Huntsville intermodal service, and zero-emission drayage subsidies reshaping the LA-Long Beach port market. Spot rates, $5.97 diesel, and what to watch next week are all in here. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

The Fed's first rate hike in three years lands on top of $5.97 diesel, putting a slow financial squeeze on the small carriers who actually cover your tough lanes. We break down what "fragile market" talk at a New York shippers conference means for how you sell, why dry van, reefer, and flatbed are telling three different stories right now, and how corporate cash hoarding is about to stretch your payment terms from 60 days to 90. Also covered: Trump's tariff threats and the East Coast front-loading window, FMCSA's Motus pause and the fraud risk that comes with it, and what thin driver supply plus selective Class 8 buying says about capacity six months out. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com

Flatbed spot linehaul slid to $2.62 a mile as ag weakness and an 11% drop in Class 8 tractor sales split open deck into a two-speed market, soft out of the Plains, firm in Texas and the Southeast. We also cover the FMCSA emergency shutdown of CDL schools across twenty states and what it does to your 2027 capacity, the Motus registration outage and the phishing sites targeting small fleets, shifting dry van lane composition with diesel at $5.97, and shippers paying up as tight capacity reopens bid conversations. Plus Hub Group's delisting warning, the Traxion tender offer for cross-border desks, and a practical take on Truck Driver Appreciation Week. New briefing every morning from The Load Letter, theloadletter.com